The extraordinary cuisine of Brazil is an amalgam of the cooking heritage of three disparate groups of people: the native Indians, the conquering Portuguese and the African slaves they brought to work in the sugar cane fields. The distinct contribution of each is still apparent in many Brazilian dishes today. Of course, certain dishes took on a new 'Brazilian' identity. The Portuguese added their own stamp to several Indian preparations and in turn, the Africans altered some of the dishes of both the Indians and the Portuguese. It was the African cooks in the colonial kitchens of the sugar cane barons, however, who provided the strongest influence in generating what would be considered a Brazilian cuisine.